A man from Jaywick who was trusted with his employer’s bank card to purchase stock has been jailed after spending almost £45,000 on personal items.

Alan Gracie, 37, of Broadway, was sentenced to 32 months in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, June 15, after pleading guilty to committing fraud by false representation at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, May 1.

According to a police spokesman, Gracie had worked at a shop in Jaywick for a number of years when he was trusted by his employer to purchase stock using company’s bank card.

The victim later found out, after looking at his shopping receipts, that a total of 44,900 had been spent on items that were not associated with the business between March 2015 and 2017.

Gracie was voluntarily interviewed by officers in March 2017 and later summonsed to appear at court where he admitted the offences.